Nic Naitanui urges public to ‘grow together’ after mother paints son’s skin for Book Week parade

[yeahmate]

What book is Nic Nat in? Eagles sticker book maybe? Are you not supposed to go to book week as your favourite character from a book? My kids have it and that is what they are told. This is the most serious question that needs answering.

He's in the footy record, maybe the only book she's read?

 

[Ron The Bear]

I hope the ARU sanction Samo and educated him on why he should have been outraged.

"Radike is already a cult figure in Queensland. After his performance in [Saturday] night's Test, he may well become a cult figure around the country during the World Cup in New Zealand. The guys dressing up were Radike fans and Radike thought it was awesome."

- ARU spokesman

 

[Barry_Badrinath]

Are you daft?

We're criticising this women's actions from her own words. Not her race. Not her economic circumstances. Actions.

Social conservatives lose all sense of reason grasping for false equivalences when trying to defend the indefensible. You're not the first and won't be the last in this thread.

A kid dressing up as his hero is "indefensible"?

Just lmao. The kid meant no harm, in fact quite the opposite. Nic Nat didn't take offence. But a bunch of American's did something similar that was offensive 60 years ago so now we need to pretend we're really upset about it.

 

[ptrg]

So NN was the kids favourite player? And apart from wearing a sign round his neck saying "I'm dressed as NN" how else was he meant to "completely" portray his hero?

Perhaps the kid should only follow white players, with the right eye colour, hair colour etc so they don't get in trouble.

But then again, white kids following only white players so they don't get branded as racists if they want to dress up as them?

Isn't that racist in itself?

Completely agree!

Are we at the point where a person cannot dress up as their hero, ONLY if they are of a different race?

How the fkk is that not racism??

 

[BotsMaster]

i blame this on the banning of tanning beds

So if the boy was tanned brown this wouldn't be an issue to the SJWs?

 

[blitznu]

He had a giggle when someone he/we knew dressed up as him for a pub crawl in perth a year or so ago. Then deleted it when people started sooking.

 

[Blugazi]

..its a non-event. Its a kid dressing like his hero. No need to bring racism into this. Its no different to a kid dressing up like Superman. End of story.

Alright everyone 'WUUBLY DUUBLY' says this is a non-issue, shut it down.

 

[Bostonian]

How on earth are you not seeing the different context here?

I see all the usual right wing nutters have sprung up to whine about 'political correctness gone mad' and so forth.

Storm in a teacup people. Move on.

Yet it's the left wing nutters that create the initial storm.

You're right though, storm in a tea cup, wasn't even worth reporting on in the first place.

 

[BORK]

Like I said, do some reading. That will answer your questions.

The more general point is that most people - including this women - know it's offensive to a lot of people.

So she chose to do something she knew was offensive simply because she wanted to live vicariously through her kid (& an excuse to start drinking before midday).

The issue isn't whether black face is offensive & why, the issue is this mother choosing to use her son to do something she knew was racially offensive to others.

Why would anyone defend that?

This.

 

[kickazz]

I once belonged to a forum where someone went hysterical and accused a finnish guy of being a nazi sympathizer all because he had as his avatar the Finnish airforce logo used during WW2 and before. Ignorance can be on both sides.

That's the thing, in a public forum you just don't know what would happen, because the audience is so diverse.

A gift depicting a good luck swastika to a Hindu in India might be appropriate; but clearly would not be for a Jewish person, even if was not in the Nazi style.

Audience matters. And when the audience could be anyone, then you probably need to be a bit more careful.

 

[JUBJUB]

The mother obviously didn't watch 'hey hey it's Saturday' years ago..

Harry Connick Jr will kick her arse

 

[JohnnyFontane90]

So if the boy was tanned brown this wouldn't be an issue to the SJWs?

well we're talking about a pretty serious tan. but yeah i guess if a really tanned person did the same thing they wouldn't need to paint their skin so i guess it would be all good.

disclaimer: i don't condone tanning beds for children

 

[kickazz]

As an aside, anyone stupid or attention whorey enough to have everything on Facebook set to public deserves what's coming to them.

IMHO

 

[frenchconnection]

The good news is that in the future we won't be able to all live together. As someone is offended with pretty much everything anyone says or does these days we will all just have to split.
This is simply not working anymore.

This is how ridiculous it is all coming to.

Yes it's a worry isn't it. The world has gone mad.

 

[ptrg]

I'd say if anything, I'm a left wing nutter- I support gay marriage, want a carbon tax, believe racism is rife in Aus in many ways, but I also think im capable of making any depictions myself without being told what to think.

And this is a case where I just cannot see anything wrong with it.
Fkk America and their issues (which is predominately why this is even an issue at all)
When an Australian boy dresses up as his idol, who happens to be Fijian, he paints his skin browner, just like he changes his hair with a wig to also reflect his idol.
Both are done to look more like Naitanui, neither are done with any intent of racism.
Where is the bloody harm being done?

 

[TheEnsign]

Swastika is still well and truly alive and well in many parts of Asia, as it should be, they used it first.

Correct. I'm not sure of your point though. We're not in Asia - we're in Australia. If you saw a Swastika on a street sign pointing to say, a Buddhist temple in Australia (since that's a correct usage) would you say, that's fine, or perhaps - we could have the sign saying there's a temple over here, without the Swastika?

 

[JeffDunne]

A kid dressing up as his hero is "indefensible"?

Just lmao. The kid meant no harm, in fact quite the opposite. Nic Nat didn't take offence. But a bunch of American's did something similar that was offensive 60 years ago so now we need to pretend we're really upset about it.

Um, no. That's not what we're discussing.

The kid didn't choose blackface - his mother did. She didn't feel he looked like winning the dress up comp so the mother, knowing full well some people might be offended, chose to do it.

Nic Nat & his views aren't the issue here, nor the kid's.

 

[yeahmate]

well we're talking about a pretty serious tan. but yeah i guess if a really tanned person did the same thing they wouldn't need to paint their skin so i guess it would be all good.

disclaimer: i don't condone tanning beds for children

I often worry in the Summertime when I wear bronze zinc that I will be taken to task by my Pakistani friends

 

[ptrg]

And one final question to ponder- what if he went as a ginger that he idolises?

 

[The 747]

Yes it's a worry isn't it. The world has gone mad.

Yeah I don't know how anyone gets by in today's crazy world

 

[Randomizor]

While you are all arguing this kid is out there winning costume parades

 

[greatwhiteshark]

Um, no. That's not we're discussing.

The kid didn't chose blackface - his mother did. She didn't feel he looked like winning the dress up comp so the mother, knowing full well some people might be offended, chose to do it.

Nic Nat & his views aren't the issue here, nor the kid's.

There is no issue, someone was offended. They need to grow up and get over it.

 

[TheEnsign]

Geez mate, I'm no history buff but I could have sworn Australia was involved in WW2 hence I'm not too sure your swastika example really cuts the mustard here.

Not sure about the bit that is confusing you, your post has little to do with my point. The swastika isn't used in Australia because it was appropriated (unfairly, but appropriated nevertheless) by the Nazis in fairly recent times. That's why people don't use it, it has a very poor, recent association tied to it.

Same as painting your skin black.

 

[The 747]

And one final question to ponder- what if he went as a ginger that he idolises?

This leaves me pondering why someone would make such a stupid analogy

 

[Quivorir]

I just don't get why she had to paint her child. Wearing a wig looking like NicNats hair and a West Coast jumper is perfectly clear who he is IMO, without the need to paint the skin colour. (the mother suggested nobody would know who he was without the paint - bullshit).

I would have assumed it was Ben Brown in an Eagles jumper.